An old political ally of Rudolph Giuliani is in trouble again, this time for campaign violations in 2005.
The New York City Campaign Finance Board assessed penalties of $800 Thursday against Thomas White, Jr. for making improper post-election expenditures, accepting over-the-limit contributions and failing to provide bank statements to document his campaign finances. White was re-elected to the City Council in 2005 after a four-year hiatus caused by term limits.
White, who has been criticized by state and city investigators for his role in a corruption-riddled anti-drug program he ran in Southeast Queens, endorsed Giuliani’s mayoral re-election bid in 1997 — one of a handful of black Giuliani supporters.
What was not revealed at the time was that Giuliani’s Department of Investigation was actively probing White’s drug-treatment program, J-CAP. Three J-CAP employees later pleaded guilty to fraud charges. White was never charged with a crime.
Here's where local meets global: DOI's record during the period Giuliani controlled it has taken severe hits in the past five years, specifically in the cases of convicted former Giuliani commissioners Bernard Kerik and Russell Harding -- whose criminal transgressions magically evaded the agency's oversight. Both these cases are gaining currency in the presidential campaign especially as Giuliani claims to have run a transparent government in New York.
DOI’s role in the J-CAP mess was not revealed until 1998 -- when Newsday discovered in court documents that the state had issued a subpoena for J-CAP records. The fuller extent of corruption and mismanagement at J-CAP...
Bill Murphy
....did not surface until 2005, when Newsday obtained investigators’ reports from the state under the Freedom of Information Law.
Throughout the investigation, the city and state continued to pour millions of dollars a year into J-CAP. White continued to draw his City Council salary of $70,500 and his J-CAP salary of $106,000.
And throughout the investigation, Giuliani’s City Hall press office refused to say whether he was aware of the DOI investigation at the time he accepted White’s endorsement.
Comments (2)
the only thing that rudi tuti did well during his terms in office was covering up crime, wearing baseball caps and taking credit that was not due him.
the only thing that rudi tuti did well during his terms in office was covering up crime, wearing baseball caps and taking credit that was not due him.